'The Epic American Trans Atlantic Flight' depicts crashes involving various pilots in the United States. Captain Charles A. Lindbergh. On September 21, 1926, Rena Fonck stands in front of his Sikorsky airplane, ready to try a solo flight across the Atlantic to Paris. He takes off and crashes in flames.
Navy Commander Richard E. Byrd poses. On April 16, 1927, his Fokker C-2 trimotor airplane ("America"), piloted by Anthony Fokker, with Byrd, Floyd Bennett, and George O. Norville,on board, flips over on takeoff at Hasborough, New Jersey. In September, 1927. Clarence Chamberlin in a Bellanca plane taxis and takes off. The tail and right main wheel dig into the soft field on landing and the airplane is severely damaged. The wreck of the "American Legion" Keystone Pathfinder airplane that carried Commander Noel Davis and Lieutenant Stanton Wooster to their deaths, in a crash landing, in the Back river, near Langley Field, Virginia, In Paris, on April 26, 1927,Frenchmen, Captain Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli pose before taking off on their ill fated flight, in a Levasseur PL8 aircraft, named " White Bird." Charles Lindbergh standing next to his mother,Evangeline Land Lindbergh. The "Spirit of St. Louis" is towed out and refueled at Mineola, New York. Charles Lindbergh climbs into the plane and makes a bumpy takeoff. Bystanders watch. People gather to greet him upon arrival in Paris. Lindbergh poses with U.S. Ambassador to France Myron Herrick. Lindbergh honored by the French President Gaston Doumergue.

Opens with scenes of aviators unsuccessful attempts to cross the Atlantic in pursuit of the Orteig Prize. Failed attempt by Fonck in his Sikorsky aircraft as he headed for Paris on September 21, 1926. French aviator René Paul Fonck standing beside his aircraft before takeoff. Fonck's plane taxiing for takeoff. View of the plane crashed and consumed in fire and smoke. Crash of Byrd's Fokker plane on April 16, 1927, injuring Byrd and crewmen Noville and Bennett. View of Byrd in uniform before the crash. View of the crash as Byrd's plane is seen tumbling nose over on landing. Failure of Chamberlin's Bellanca aircraft carrying Chamberlin and two little girl passengers. The plane stalls at landing but passengers are safe. Next scene of crash of plane carrying Davis and Wooster on April 26, 1927 near Langley Field, Virginia, killing both men. The crashed plane beside a swamp. View of France's Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli before their attempt in L'Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird). Plane with Nungesser and Coli taking off; it disappeared after taking off from Paris, with the last sighting of it over Ireland. View of Charles Lindbergh and then also of Lindbergh and his mother, and of the Spirit of Saint Louis on May 20, 1927 before his successful Atlantic Crossing to Le Bourget at Paris on May 21, 1927. The aircraft being backed out of a hangar and being fueled. Captain Charles Augustus Lindbergh enters the cockpit. The Spirit of Saint Louis Wright Whirlwind powered monoplane taxiing and taking off slowly from Roosevelt Field in New York, heavily burdened by fuel. Aerial view of the Spirit of St Louis in flight, taken from another airplane. Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic in the plane 'Spirit of St. Louis'. Charles Lindbergh is greeted by huge crowd in Paris. Views of crowds, dignitaries and celebrations as he is welcomed by people in Paris, Brussels and London. Also views of his receptions in Washington DC and New York City in the United States in June 1927.

Baseball great, Babe Ruth starting to trot around the bases after hitting a home run. An inverted stunt biplane, N57323 with "EM Avery" readable on fuselage while flying inverted. A wing walker is strapped under the airplane (on top wing, now underneath). The airplane rolls over into upright position, trailing white smoke to be more easily seen by spectators on the ground. A 1920s jazz band playing in a night club. A couple and then four women, dancing the Charleston. View from car driving along New York street surrounded by nighttime illuminations. A flagpole sitter atop structure behind an RKO Keith's Advertising sign. Closeup of the man on his perch. A room full of women sewing garments in a factory. Formal dressed couples at a city supper club, where an orchestra is playing. Exhausted couples clinging to one another on dance floor during a marathon dance contest. Gangsters firing a machine gun from window of a moving car. Charles A. Lindbergh steps past a policeman, to board his Ryan monoplane, "Spirit of St.Louis,"at Roosevelt field, Long Island, New York, on May 20, 1927. View of takeoff roll. Registration number "NX-211," visible atop the right wing. Manhattan ticker tape parade welcoming Lindbergh back to New York City, following his successful solo transatlantic flight. Charles Lindbergh speaking at a microphone. Traders on floor of the New York Stock Exchange during era of frantic stock market speculation by many ordinary Americans. Labor strife at the gates of a Massey-Harris Company plant, with workers fleeing attacks by men with clubs hired by the company. Boy workers pose for a photograph While narrator mentions Child labor Act declared unconstitutional (1922). A girl worker. Boys employed as coal miners. Workers installing body panels on cars and working on engines in automobile production lines. Partially completed vehicles driving out of an automobile factory. Babe Ruth rounding third base and coming to home plate after hitting a home run in a baseball game.

Scenes from Army Day on April 6, 1934. Secretary of War George Henry Dern, in broadcast to the nation about importance of the Army, in peacetime. Brief glimpses of the Yellowstone River lower falls and Old Faithful and Beehive geysers erupting in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. View amongst log buildings in Reproduction of Army Fort Dearborn, at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. A pioneer wagon; Native American Indians in ceremonial regalia; antique locomotives and trains at the Exposition. Army General Leonard Wood being sworn in as the Governor General of the Philippines. Closeup of General of the Armies, John J. Pershing, America's highest ranking Military officer. Headquarters of Walter Reed Army hospital, in Washington, DC, named for U.S. Army Major Walter Reed, who confirmed that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquito. Acting on this, the U.S. was able to complete the Panama Canal. View of French dredging equipment sitting idle in the water after Yellow Fever prevented them from completing the canal. Closeup of U.S. Army General William C. Gorgas, who, in 1904, headed the Sanitary Department that controlled mosquitoes and eradicated Yellow Fever, so the canal could be finished. View of a cayman in swamp near the canal. Photograph of George Washington Goethals, Chief Engineer credited with making the canal happen. Explosives employed in canal construction. Earth and rocks being loaded into open rail cars. A steamship transiting the Panama Canal. The Washington Monument; U.S. Library of Congress; and the Lincoln Memorial, cited as examples of accomplishments by U.S. Army engineers. The Wilson Dam, under construction by Army engineers, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and system of levees being built to control the Mississippi River. The raging Mississippi River during 1927 flood. Flood victims being assisted by U.S. Army soldiers, at a tent camp, receiving food and clothing. An Army airplane flying over a forest fire. Army personnel supervising men in the Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC. Mail being loaded aboard an Army airplane, as airmail service is being opened between Washington DC and New York City. President Woodrow Wilson talking with Army pilot Major Reuben H. Fleet. Mail being loaded into the nose of an airplane. U.S. Army Douglas World Cruiser airplanes in flight, returning from their trip around the world in 1924. A pilot sitting in front seat of a Douglas O-38 airplane, pulls a fabric hood over his cockpit to practice "blind flying". View of the aircraft in flight, with instructor pilot in the open rear cockpit. Army aviators taking a camera and a rifle aboard their airplane as they prepare to leave on an aerial mapping flight. Aerial view of skyscrapers of Manhattan Island, New York City. Army Signal Corps personnel working on communications devices. A cable laying ship operating at sea, in support of the U.S. Army's Alaskan cable and telegraph system. Men loading chemicals into hoppers on Army crop dusting airplane. Several views of Army airplanes crop dusting. Glimpse of boll weevil, the target of their efforts. Closeup of Karl Connell, who as a major in the AEF, in World War I, invented a superior gas mask known as the “Connell” or “Victory” mask. A group of miners wearing gas masks enter a smoky mine entrance. The Army invented tear gas, which is shown being used to thwart a bank robbery, in a staged demonstration. Brigadier General Hugh Johnson, appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt, as head of the Great Depression era National Recovery Administration, or NRA, is seen about to give a speech. Narrator cites him as an example of U.S. Army officers who also serve the country in civilian life. Scene shifts to cadets on parade at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.

Charles A. Lindbergh posing in front of his airplane, "The Spirit of St. Louis." The Spirit of St. Louis landing at an airfield in the United States. People gathered around the Spirit of St. Louis, with its engine running.Lindbergh climbing aboard his airplane at Roosevelt Field on May 20, 1927, and taking off on his historic solo transatlantic flight to Paris. View of Lindbergh climbing steeply in the Spirit of St. Louis during his flight from Paris to Brussels, in 1927, Nightime scenes of crowds running to see Lindbergh upon his arrival at Le Bourget airfield in Paris on May 21, 1927. French President Gaston Doumergue stands with Lindbergh on a balcony, where they wave the French tricolor. They converse, framed by American flags (one of which, almost falls from the balcony). Lindbergh holds and waves both the American flag and the French tricolor. The French President presents the Honor Legion Medal to Charles Lindbergh. Tug boats and fire boats fill New York Harbor to welcome Charles A. Lindbergh upon his arrival in that city. New York fetes Lindbergh with tickertape parade.

Aviator Charles Lindbergh being acclaimed in Washington D.C., United States upon his return to the United States, following his historic solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. Charles Lindbergh disembarks from the U.S. Navy Cruiser, USS Memphis (CL-13). Avenue, Washington D.C. Lindbergh and his mother, in an open car, with military escort. Their car is surrounded by newsmen and photographers, and guarded by several U.S. Army soldiers. View of Pennsylvania Avenue looking towards the Capitol. A military color guard marches across the avenue. Spectators line the sidewalks. The Lindbergh car moves along Pennsylvania Avenue. Sign on building reads: "Colonial Ice Cream." Mounted cavalry follow the car. View from above of a huge crowd in an open area. Scenes from Lindbergh's arrival in New York, on June 13, 1927. He rides in an open car, from the Battery, in downtown, manhattan, escorted by mounted policemen. People rush all around his car and tickertape and confetti fill the air.